Sea shanties and maritime music

I sing the Chanty Man. A tremulous echo is all that is left of him upon the seas. Soon it will have escaped – fled down the winds of yesterday of which he sang so lustily...

William Brown Meloney IV, Everybody's Magazine, 1915

This Day in History (February 29, 1908)

This Day in History (January 8, 1806)

The death of Lord Nelson was a national tragedy like no other for England. "From Greenwich to Whitehall Stairs, on the 8th of January, 1806, in one of the greatest Aquatic Processions that ever was beheld on the River Thames" drifted the royal shallop (barge). The event is referenced in the modern lament, Carrying Nelson Home. Nelson is mentioned in nearly a dozen other songs.

Try a random shanty sampling

Admiral Benbow
Forecastle song

Oh come good people all young and old, young and old,
Oh come good people all young and old.
It's of an Admiral brave called Benbow by his name,
How he fought on the raging main you shall hear, you shall hear.

Brave Benbow he set sail for to fight, for to fight,
Brave Benbow he set sail for to fight.
Brave Benbow he set sail in a sweet and pleasant gale
But his captains they turned tail in a fright, in a fright.

Says Kirby unto Wade, “I will run, I will run.”
Says Kirby unto Wade, “I will run,
For I value no disgrace, even losing of my place,
But the enemy I won't face nor their guns, nor their guns.”

So Brave Benbow gave the signal for to fight, for to fight,
So Brave Benbow gave the signal for to fight.
The ships boxed up and down and the shots they flew all around
And the men came tumbling down, there they lay, there they lay.

Admiral Benbow lost his legs by chain shot, by chain shot,
Admiral Benbow lost his legs by chain shot.
He down on his stumps did fall and so bitterly he did call,
“Fight on my British tars, 'tis my lot, 'tis my lot.”

While the surgeon dressed his wounds, oh he cried, oh he cried,
While the surgeon dressed his wounds oh he cried.
“Let my cradle now in haste on the quarter deck be placed
That the enemy I may face 'til I'm dead, 'til I'm dead.”

'Twas on Tuesday morning last Benbow died, Benbow died,
'Twas on Tuesday morning last Benbow died.
'Twas a shocking sight to see, Admiral Benbow carried away,
He was buried in Kingston church, there he lay, there he lay.

A Trip to the Grand Banks
Fishing song

Early in the spring when the snow is all gone,
The Penobscot boys are anxious their moneey for to earn;
they will fit out a fisherman, one hundred tons or nigh,
For the Grand Banks of Newfoundland their luck for to try.

Sailing down the river, the weather being fine,
Our homes and our friends we leave far behind;
We pass by Sable Island, as we've oft done before,
Where the waves dash tremendous on a storm-beaten shore,

Now the vessel is our quarters, the ocean is our home,
And islands, capes and headlands we leave far astern
We run to the eastward for three or four days,
Then round and "sound" upon the western edge

The we run for the shoals and we run for the rocks,
Where the hagduls and Careys, they surround us in flocks;
We let go our best anchor, where the seas run so high,
On the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, the snapeyes for to try.

Early in the morn at the dawn of the day,
We jump into our dories, and saw, saw, away;
The snapeyes steal our bait, and we rip and we rave,
If ever we get home again, we'll give up the trade.

In this way we pass the summer, through dread and through fear
In fog mulls and gales of wind and big ships passing near;
The sometimes run the schooners down and sink them in the deep
The thoughts of such scenery is horrid to repeat.

Now the salt is all wet, but one half a pen,
The colors we will show and the mainsail we bend
Wash her down and scrub the decks, the dories we will stow,
Then heave up the anchor! To the Westward we go!